Clint Cline

I believe the advent of Digital imaging has spawned a tremendous democratization of visual expression and, despite the volume of claptrap that inevitable arises, we are all better for it. In the Proverbs it says 'as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another' .... likewise the explosive evolution in digital photography – and now iPhoneography – is challenging and pushing and elevating a larger discussion on the power and use of visual communication.

I am sharpened everyday to see the abundance of talent, some directed, some still making its way, that finds expression through the iPhone.

Photography for me is avocation, begun initially in film by experimenting with odd and rare film types. As an advertising writer/designer/art director I regularly hired professional photographers (before the stock image explosion) and invariably learned through their patience with my endless questions many of the techniques I use today. While I still keep my film cameras within reach, I shoot now with everything from DSLR, Point-and-Shoot, and the iPhone, though admittedly the iPhone is clearly dominate in my personal work.

Now, as a creative director, I am able to combine words and images in a way unthinkable even 20 years ago. Barriers to creating and using images have fallen, and the ability to create photo-illustration that turns on metaphor and concept rather than the pale sameness of stock imagery is that aspect of digital imaging and iPhoneography I most enjoy. By extension, I also create much of my personal art in this manner.

As for an artistic vision, I believe another writer said it better and more succinctly that I could ever do. The incomparable C.S. Lewis said, "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." Much of my art is, thus, an expression of my faith...whether I choose to illuminate the idea of joy, or sadness, or injustice, etc., or attempt to share the beauty of the Creation expressed through the undeniable nature of human dignity or through the physical nature of the world we have been given to steward.

I also try to bring a sense of "story" to each image, no matter where it falls against the thousand word benchmark. Behind the whimsey of my surreal and abstract work, for instance, is usually a longer narrative drawn everything from childhood memories, my rigorous travel schedule, or some deeply impacting personal experience.